Birthday in Paradise
by Kiki102
Summary: Camille celebrates her birthday in a less than auspicious manner thanks to a serial killer. That doesn't mean it's all bad though. Second in the Love in Paradise series. Oneshot.


**Can it be? I'm posting again! Miracle upon miracle! I've actually had this one written for a while but on my old laptop. I put it on my memory chip to transfer to my new one... then promptly overwrote the folder before I moved it. Silly me. Anyway, a nice sugary sweet oneshot, enjoy!**

**Christina x**

**XOXOXOX**

It was eight nineteen am and already it was a bad day.

All week they'd been working against the clock, trying to catch a serial killer before he struck again. So far he'd killed four people, not including the seven he'd killed in Guadeloupe before he came to Saint Marie. Even Richard was struggling to find a connection between the victims and it was driving him crazy. And as a result he was driving his team crazy.

Last night after sending Dwayne and Fidel home to get some much needed rest, Richard had declared he was staying to work through the night. Camille had joined him and wouldn't listen to any of his arguments. Sometime around one am she'd fallen asleep and as a result had a sore back and a crick in her neck that would need a long, soothing and very expensive massage to remove. She knew by the way his hair was messed up and by the imprint of the magnifying glass on his cheek when she woke up that Richard must've fallen asleep at some point, but it also meant that he'd had even less sleep than her. There were obvious signs that he was beginning to get very stressed out about not catching the killer, the most obvious being his ever loosening tie. Camille had only seen him without his tie twice, on their first date, and during their third when she'd taken it off despite his protests. The other was that he'd accepted coffee this morning instead of his customary tea.

The case also, meant Camille and Richard hadn't been alone since it began, except in their professional capacity, which didn't seem like the right time to bring up anything personal. She was with him every day, but Camille missed her boyfriend. Mostly they were too tired to do anything after work. The most contact they'd had all week was one quick, chaste kiss a few nights ago. Other than that, only when their hands touched when passing each other files or pieces of evidence.

And to top everything off, it was her birthday. Every year her mother made a big deal out of it, even on years when Camille would've preferred she didn't, and always had a party in the bar. But after the case came up, Camille told her not to, as there was no way she could guarantee being there. At the moment the odds were that she'd spend all day and all night working again, and would continue to until the killer was caught. Her mother had reluctantly agreed, promising to throw a belated birthday party once the case was closed.

_Bon anniversaire Camille_ she thought to herself, flicking through the file she'd been through a hundred times already. One hundred and one couldn't hurt. Her eyes blurred due to her lack of sleep. Putting the file onto her lap, she pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes. As she opened her eyes she felt someone come up beside her, and managed a tired smile as she recognised Richard's aftershave.

"Here," he said awkwardly, fidgeting, as he handed her a small gift wrapped box. "Happy birthday Camille." Then he bent and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before Dwayne woke up and realised he was putting sugar in the coffee machine. Then he was back at his desk again. Despite the case, her exhaustion, and everything else, Camille grinned broadly. Moving the file onto her desk, she opened the gift under her desk, away from prying eyes. She didn't want Dwayne and Fidel to feel bad or for them to feel they should do something for her birthday when they had such a big case. Her grin widened when she saw the gorgeous necklace he'd bought her, and mouthed _I love it_ to him. He gave her a smile, a real albeit very tired one. Shoving the box into the top drawer of her desk, Camille slipped on the necklace.

Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.


End file.
